The quote (from a dissent in yesterday’s Dickens v. Ryan (9th Cir. Aug. 3, 2012)) comes up in an unusual context: The case was about whether Dickens could be sentenced to death for a felony-murder in which the killer was Dickens’ confederate in an armed robbery, and the specific issue was whether Dickens knew that […]
Archive | Guns
Arms Trade Treaty conference ends without agreement
By David Kopel on July 27, 2012 5:47 pm in Genocide, Global Governance/World Government, Guns, International Human Rights Law, International Law
The weeks-long conference at the United Nations to produce an Arms Trade Treaty is ending without the creation of a treaty. None of the draft treaties which have circulated in the past several days came remotely close to finding consensus support. The impossibility of achieving consensus involved a wide variety of issues and nations, far […]
Colorado Consensus on Gun Laws
In an article today for National Review Online, I detail how “Broadly supported post-Columbine reforms balance gun rights and gun control”: After the Columbine High School murders, Colorado enacted eight specific gun-law reforms. Three of these reforms are examples of what people usually call “gun control,” and five of them are in the “gun rights” […]
Don’t turn Aurora killer into celebrity
That’s the title of my article yesterday in USA Today, suggesting how the media can try to cover the crime in a way that does not increase the risk of a copycat effect. Also on USA Today, I participated in a Web Chat with a pair of representatives of the Brady Campaign, available here. A […]
Georgia Law Banning the Carrying of Guns to Church, Unless One Notifies and Gets Permission from Church Management
Today’s GeorgiaCarry.org v. Georgia (11th Cir. July 20, 2012) upholds the ban against a challenge under the Free Exercise Clause and the Second Amendment. An excerpt (some paragraph breaks added): [A.] In 2010, the Georgia legislature, apparently concerned that the carrying of [knives and handguns] and long guns would likely present an unreasonable risk of […]
Black Women and Guns in Texas
I saw a couple of people (including InstaPundit) citing this Utne Reader article, which reports that “Texas Department of Public Safety data show that the fastest-growing group of concealed handgun owners in the state has been, for at least five years, black women” (and also tells the story of the author, one of those black […]
Knowing Unlicensed Possession of a Gun in Public Required for Punishment Under Minnesota Law
So holds yesterday’s State v. Ndikum (Minn. July 11, 2012). It’s a statutory construction case, akin to Staples v. United States (1994), and not a constitutional case. But because the decision whether to read a required mental state into a statute — here, the decision whether a ban on “possess[ing] a pistol … in a […]
Puerto Rico Second Amendment Case
The opinion is Asoc de Duenos de Armerias de PR Inc. v. Policia de Puerto Rico (P.R. Ct. App. June 28, 2012); I don’t know Spanish, but if any readers who do can post a quick summary of the court’s conclusion and its reasoning, that would be great. For earlier Puerto Rico Second Amendment opinions, […]
The Second Amendment and Convictions for Misdemeanor “Harassment” Offenses That Possibly Didn’t Involve Violence
In December 1997, Kirk Fisher pled guilty to two counts of misdemeanor “harassment” of his wife (who is apparently still his wife), and was placed on probation for six months. As part of his probation, he had to surrender his guns, but after the probation was over, the court ordered that the guns be returned, […]
Group Turns in Broken Guns to “Gun Buyback” Program, Raises Money for NRA Youth Shooting Camp
The Chicago Sun-Times reports: The city collected 5,500 guns last Saturday in the annual buyback. The city gave out $100 MasterCard gift cards for each gun and $10 cards for BB guns and replicas. Sixty of the guns and several BB guns were turned in by the Champaign-based Guns Save Life [yielding $6,240]…. Most of […]
Michigan Court of Appeals Strikes Down Stun Gun Ban, Says Second Amendment Applies to Open Carry in Public
People v. Yanna (Mich. Ct. App. June 26, 2012) holds that Michigan’s stun gun ban violates the Second Amendment. I filed an amicus brief on behalf of AWARE (Arming Women Against Rape & Endangerment) in this case, and also wrote a law review article on the subject (Nonlethal Self-Defense, (Almost Entirely) Nonlethal Weapons, and the […]
OSHA targets shooting range
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued a citation, along with a proposed fine of $111,000 fine (OSHA press release here), against Illinois Gun Works–a gun store and gunsmith business which has a shooting range and teaches safety classes. HT Instapundit and David Codrea. In a November 2009 article for the NRA magazine […]
Fast and Furious explained
In a 47-minute podcast from iVoices.org, I provide the history from Operation Wide Receiver in 2006-07, up through the contempt of Congress vote this week.
Is President Obama’s assertion of executive privilege valid?
As noted by Jonathan Adler, below, President Obama today asserted Executive Privilege for Attorney General Eric Holder’s refusal to comply with a document subpoena from the U.S. House Oversight Committee. The letter is here. The Committee will vote later today on a resolution to hold Holder in contempt of Congress. The Committee Report in support […]
Right to Keep and Bear Arms Includes Knives
In Delaware, carrying any knife — including a kitchen knife or a paring knife or anything other than a closed folding knife with a blade of 3 inches or shorter — concealed is a felony, even in your home, unless you have a concealed weapons license. 11 Del. Code § 1442 provides, A person is […]